Members of the new UAE Cabinet were encouraged to come up with a 100-day work plan to expedite progress in a first meeting on Sunday, presided over by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Shaikh Mohammad said the UAE government, under the leadership of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, had made progress in all fields and has started a new phase of government work after endorsing the new Cabinet of the UAE Federal Government to shape the future.

The best solution to the environmental crisis facing us today may not be to cut back on our usage of water and electricity (which we should be doing anyway) but radical technology, Professor Richard Williams, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, said on Wednesday, ahead of his lecture at the Dubai branch of the university in Academic City.

Professor Williams’ ventures in radical technology include: Xeros, a domestic washing machine that doesn’t use water; car-engines fuelled by cold air, and imaging without nuclear sensors. According to him, radical or ‘disruptive’ technologies are thus labelled for their disruption of existing businesses, “because what’s good for the environment and society may not be good for businesses”.

Light showers and moderate winds brought down temperatures in Dubai and the Northern Emirates on Friday.

Generally warm weather by day throughout last week — with a maximum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius on Wednesday — had provided indications of early onset of warmer weather. However, Friday’s drizzle brought a cool respite and the forecast by the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) suggests that the weather will remain cool with chances of light rain over the next couple of days.

Abu Dhabi: The upcoming visit of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to India will add fresh momentum to the bridge of bilateral relations that go back more than a century, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE said.